Day 26 - End of The Road

Dinner last night was memorable, but not for its culinary excellence - a low point in the trip. Nevertheless, it didn't seem to trouble our sleep and we rolled out in good time for a dose of Mr. Lincoln. The Presidential Library was closed on Sunday, but we were told that it was more of a research facility than a tourist attraction, so we made do with the Presidential Museum. It told the story of the man and the times, especially the din of advice and criticism that surrounding him during his presidency. The depiction of the strong feelings on both sides reminded us of today. Lincoln's use of the apostle Mark's phrase, "A house divided against itself cannot stand" and his own words, "Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves" seem as relevant today as they were in his time.

Illinois takes its motto, Land of Lincoln, seriously; Abraham is credited with more stuff along The Road than six people could have done in a lifetime. Here he is in Lincoln, IL, driving the largest covered (uncovered?) wagon in the world. It seems that distracted drivers have been a problem for longer than I thought. By the time we passed Paul Bunyan cradling a hot dog in Atlanta and the Gemini Giant in Wilmington, we were getting about done with roadside oohs and aahs for the day. But when we crossed the Kankakee River, we broke out a rough version of Arlo Guthrie's City of New Orleans.

     

Because of the late start, we were running a bit late by the time we got to Joliet, so we made a practical decision for the last stretch into Chicago that book-ended our decision in Santa Monica - we left the Route 66 byways and hit the freeways. At first, the sparse traffic made us glad that we arrived on a Sunday afternoon. Then we got downtown - it was packed. Concerts in the park, tour buses, tourists (dontcha hate 'em!) were all swarming around on a warm, sunny Sunday in Chicago.

With a bit of patience and a bit more of luck (only one U-turn in the middle of traffic) we got to the Westin on Michigan Avenue, pointed our bags to the bellman, tossed our car key to the valet, and swanned our way to the 20th floor. The sunny afternoon views over Lake Michigan and Oak Street Beach made a stunning finale for the Route 66 part of our trip and excited us for the next few days of exploring Chicago.

213 miles today. No new license plates. We're still missing Delaware,

Maine, Rhode Island and North Dakota.

So many Chicago books and writers, and so many we have not read. We considered The Chicago Manual of Style, even though we have dipped into that one more than many books we have on our shelves. The result of a Canadian education is that you read more British authors than American. So, the likes of Updike, Roth, Wright, Bellow, Farrell, Dreisler, Sinclair, and I could go on, were not in our curricula. How about we start this week with a poet, Carl Sandburg, whose first book of poetry was about Chicago, aptly named Chicago Poems. 

Driving in from the south side of Chicago, we began humming this tune after we listened to Jim Croce on the road. Bad, Bad Leroy Brown.

Jim Croce - Bad Bad, Leroy Brown | Have You Heard: Jim Croce Live - YouTube

The End of the Road!!

Day 25 - Louisville, KY to Springfield, IL

 

Alas, it was time to leave Betsy and her beautiful new home in Louisville. A good rain overnight set the park near her place in its best form - lush green, fading magnolias, scads of cardinals and gracious adjoining homes.

We backtracked along I-64 toward St. Louis then cut north on Highway 4 before the metropolitan area. This put us in corn country, although the little sprouts were only as high as an elephant's toe instead of his eye. Maybe an Illinois elephant is different from the Oklahoma strain. Just northeast of St. Louis, we tacked back on Route 66 and poked our way through small towns and cornfields to Springfield - land of Lincoln. It was here, Lancelot, that we saw where you must have driven through the cornfield. We drove in daylight!! and saw two red traffic flags and a sign that said, 'End of the Road'. Yes indeed, it was in the middle of a cornfield.

The hotel was a block away from the new capitol building, so we took a walk through town to get our steps up and plan for some sightseeing in the morning. Like Tulsa, our lack of planning landed us in the middle of a spring fling - this time the Arts Fair and Pride Festival, right in the middle of Route 66! 

We met all kinds of interesting folks walking their parents, partners, children, pets and super-heroes through the event. Our Mazda isn't set up for street slalom so we will find a way around as we get out of town tomorrow on our last leg of Route 66.

Mileage: 254 

No new plates today.

For a song, today's route was notable for corn fields and small towns. Not especially more so that other days on the route but this video by John Cougar Melencamp is pretty much what today's drive was like. John Mellencamp - Small Town Music Video - YouTube

There are over 16,000 books written about Abraham Lincoln - rather daunting to pick the best here in Lincolnland. On the road we are listening to Amor Towles' The Lincoln Highway, with its many references to Abraham Lincoln memorials by young Billy and his new friend Wooly. The audiobook is great - highly recommended for any road trip.

Day 24 - Bourbon, Bonnie, and Betsy

After a big day yesterday, an easy morning was welcome. We broke fast and caught up on our blogging (our public are sooo demanding), then headed south toward Nashville to the Jim Beam distillery on the north edge of Bernheim Forest in Bullitt County. A serious volume of hooch is produced here - Jim Beam, Knob Creek, Kessler's, Baker's, Basil Hayden, Booker's, Hardin's Creek, Little Book, Legent, Lineage, Old Tub, Old Crow, Old Overholt - good grief, everything from $8 engine degreaser to $385 gold, if you can find it. (Clue: our engine is shiny, but the car doesn't want to stay on the road.)

Over lunch we tried some of their mixed drinks. Betsy had one called 'She Snapped' with Basil Hayden, snap pea, lemon, balsamic and celery. It was delicious (we all tasted each other's), finishing almost savory instead of sweet. But the name reminded me of the fridge magnet from a housewife to the family, "Gone crazy, supper is on the ceiling!"

Who said Bourbon tours cannot be educational. We learned all kinds of things, including the booze maker's version of a color wheel. 

We ended the day in Betsy's living room with some new blood for our evening entertainment - Frank, a dear friend of Betsy and Dean's. We originally had planned to go to a Bonnie Raitt concert, but Bonnie deferred. Frank had BIG shoes to fill, and he did pretty good. We got a good sense of Louisville and the bridge, golf and pool scenes of the town. Good on ya, Frank - if only you had red hair and played a slide Stratocaster! Stories of pool hall teammates who casually mentioned their time in the Pen gave Louisville a luster that merits another visit. 

License plate count - Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arizona Navajo Nation, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oklahoma Caddo Nation, Oklahoma Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma Chocktaw Nation, Oklahoma Osage Nation, Oklahoma Peoria Nation, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee. Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and the US Government. And from Oh Canada - British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Quebec. And from Mexico - Ciudad de Mexico, Sonora.

Geraldine Brooks' latest book called Horse is as good as all her others. Kentucky 1850, New York 1954, to Washington D.C. 2019. This is a remarkable story about the thoroughbred horse named Lexington. A perfect story to read while thinking about Kentucky.

Sadly, Bonnie Raitt had to postpone her concert at the lovely Palace Theater here in Louisville. We made do with Frank's stories, CDs of Bonnie and sipping a little bourbon at Betsy's. Here you go, the first song I learned to play on my new Martin guitar. The first line is 'I am an old woman...' John Prine's Angel From Montgomery, sung by Bonnie and Jackson Brown in 2022 at the Women in Music concert.

Bonnie Raitt Performs 'Angel From Montgomery' At the 2022 Billboard Women In Music Awards - YouTube.

Day 23 - Louisville slugging

 

A day of touristing instead of driving. Tour guide Betsy got us to the Blue Dog Bakery for our morning cappuccino and pastry and then to old downtown Louisville. Chartered in 1780 by Virginia governor Thomas Jefferson, the site at the head of the Falls of the Ohio River made it a natural transportation and distribution center. Today, the most notable sights in the old town are the many bourbon tasting rooms (part of the Urban Bourbon Trail) and the cast iron building facades. Used in the mid to late 1800s, the slim columns enabled by this material give a light, airy appearance to the buildings. Many of these buildings in other cities were replaced in the mid1900s, but Louisville wasn't thriving at the time and the buildings were thankfully left in service.

Among the prominent museums in Louisville are the Muhammad Ali Center, which we didn't visit, and the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory, which we did. It was awesome! The huge bat on Main Street marks the site and leads visitors through exhibits that just get better and better. Bats from legendary hitters dating back to early 1900s, the Negro Leagues, and through to today are on display. The factory tour showed how trees are selected from plots along the New York-Pennsylvania border, cut into 40-inch lengths, split (not cut) and then trimmed. The best 15% of the wood is used for professional bats (over 10,000 per year) and the rest go for their retail line. The smell of the new-cut ash, birch and maple filled the factory and we saw the full process from cutting out the rounds to shaping on the lathes to finishing, painting and stamping. 

Bats from some of the biggest names in the game were racked and available for swinging. Here is Betty having a cut with Edgar Martinez's. Note that she's down close to the knob and swinging for the fence.

On our bourbon walking tour, we stopped at the Michter's whiskey tasting room just across the street and had a lick of four bourbons, four ryes and two whiskeys. We all agreed on a favorite (Barrel Strength Toasted Barrel Finish Rye) but were sad to learn that we couldn't buy it - too much demand and too expensive for them to keep at a tourist tasting room. Hmm. We were saved from ourselves.

You can never go wrong with lunch at an Irish pub. Today we stopped at Molly Malone's, had a Guiness or a Harp and shared some fresh cockles and mussels from the Ohio River - well, no; roasted brussels sprouts and black bean hummus.

Dinner was at the Havana Cuban restaurant along Bardstown Road. There was a great vibe in the area - lots of young and old at street-side tables in the warm evening air. A perfect end to our first day with Betsy in Louisville.

To carry on the B-B-B theme, the book recommendation today is about bourbon. Pappyland: A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon and Things That Last, by Wright Thompson

In honor of Irish Pubs everywhere and in dedication to Steve Perkins we give you a rendition of Molly Malone. Molly Malone - Patty Gurdy (Irish Traditional / epic Hurdy-Gurdy Music) - YouTube

Day 22 - Four States

After the excruciating navigation to stay on Route 66, the trip from St. Louis to Louisville was a breeze. We put our friend Betsy's address on the car GPS and let it do the work. Several hours later we drove up her driveway. In the process, we were in four states: Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. Record!!

We started our stay with Betsy by being the perfect horrible guests and asking to do our laundry. Gracious as always, she said pointed us to her brand new equipment. So, our first night was full of conversation, catch up, washing and drying, and a great southern meal. She filled her beautiful round dining room table with beans, brisket and cornbread, then a yummy Lemonade Pie for dessert. For the Hemstock family, just imagine ice cream pie, but lemony. Betsy has just renovated a lovely home in the Highlands district of Louisville. We are the inaugural visitors. By far it is the best hotel we have stayed in yet. We won't want to leave. Tomorrow we are on the trail of baseball bats and bourbon.

Mileage: 269

No new plates.

Guest book recommendation from the great Betsy Wilson. You gotta love her title: Dean Emerita, University of Washington Libraries. She is reading about her new home and books about Kentucky. Night Comes to the Cumberlands: A Biography of a Depressed Area by Harry M. Caudill explores history of the southern Appalachians from the Civil War to the rise of the coal barons to the economic despair of the 50s and 60s. 

Today's song is another guest recommendation from brother Bill. He is a keen fan of John Prine, as anyone knows who has had a song session with him. I asked him to recommend a John Prine song, as John was a Kentuckian. How Lucky. (That's what we think we are.)

John Prine - How Lucky (Colbert Report, 2013) - Bing video

Day 21 - Walkin' blues

 This morning we took Robert Johnson's advice:

I woke up this mornin', feelin' round for my shoes

Know 'bout 'at I got these, old walkin' blues

Woke up this mornin', feelin' round for my shoes

But you know 'bout 'at I, got these old walkin' blues

After a mighty sleep, we needed coffee and so we started to walk. The Starbucks downstairs didn't do it for us yesterday, so we struck a bearing for a coffee shop on the street with a good rating. In part of a church building, it was sort of a coffee house, drop-in center. Nevertheless, they had cappuccinos and croissants available, which was better than Starbucks, but neither made us keen for a repeat performance. The barista had chatted us up as we ordered and learned we were from Seattle. Later, he said he was intimidated and wondered how he'd done. White lie number 1 for the day and we were gone.

 On our way to the National Blues Museum, we passed the central branch of the St. Louis Public Library - an impressive sandstone building with two impressive security guards out front, who welcomed us in. What a gorgeous building! Woodwork, colonnades, and arches all manifested a civic pride that is rarely seen in our time. With all the controversies in libraries these days, it was nice to see a vibrant library with good exhibits and stacks full of books.  

The halls rang with shouts and laughter from kids - and that is what we want in libraries to help develop lifelong readers.

There was an exhibit about high school proms, complete with prom dresses, tuxedos, and storyboards from the past. The Norman Rockwell print perfectly captured the puzzlement many of us felt about the event.

The National Blues Museum told a great story of American music from the late 1800s to today, and how the different genres - jazz, country, show tunes, gospel and rock and roll - are rooted in the blues. The simple musical structure with its endless variations supports the plaintive calls about love, loss, hard times and hope for something better to come. There weren't a lot of artifacts in the collection, but the story was clear and there were hands-on opportunities to make our own music and rhythms. Once again, school kids were going at it with vigor.

The last two days, we've shown the inside of the hotel. Here is a shot of the outside. The scale is hard to see - this place is huge; two full city blocks long.

Our farewell dinner in St. Louis came from a recommendation of the porter, Kurt, who helped us with our bags. The Broadway Oyster Bar puts an emphasis on seafood and New Orleans flavors. Their menu warns you, the food is spicy hot. I opted for a pasta dish without the crushed red peppers, but Roy had Etouffee. The food was good, but the music was outside. We asked if we could go out to listen and the waitress said, 'it is just a guy playing the guitar'. We went anyway and were serenaded by 'a guy just playing the guitar'. The walk home went by Busch Stadium where the Cards were playing - lots of action in the Cardinal village. 

I did not realize Maya Angelou was from St. Louis. A perfect chance to take a look at her work. When I first moved to the U.S. I remember watching the inauguration of Bill Clinton and saw her recite her poem On the Pulse of the Morning. I think we need to read more poetry. If you haven't read it try I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.

Tomorrow, we leave Missouri and head to Kentucky. Time to include a song from a St Louis native, Chuck Berry. We thought No Particular Place to Go would work. That's kind of how we feel, as long as it is on Route 66!

Chuck Berry No Particular Place To Go (HQ Audio) - YouTube

Day 20 - Life on the Mississippi

 A glorious day without driving. We slept in and headed down for a Starbucks coffee that was - meh. Enjoying it in the wonderful hotel lobby added a special zest, though, and got us ready for seeing the sights.

We started down to The Arch on the riverfront of the Mississippi. No need for Google maps, this structure dominates the sky. The walk down Market Street was lined with impressive architecture, both old and new. It reminded us that this city is much older than many of the cities we visited in the west. 

The Gateway Arch National Park was beautiful, even on a cloudy day. Although The Arch dominated the view, we felt a strong pull to the edge of the muddy old river, carrying water from most of the area between the Rocky Mountains and the Great Lakes. The railroad and the interstate highways have taken much of the traffic from the river, but tugboats were still moving barges upstream and downstream.

One of the thrills of working in special libraries was that I was asked to buy a first edition of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. There it was in my hands, a green clothbound book. Today I walked up and dipped my hand in the Mississippi River, and I thought of Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain). No book selections today, but a fond memory of reading one of the great American novels.

The outside of The Arch is pretty cool, rising 630 feet above the park. But what's really cool is the tram inside structure that carries visitors to the top. The top of The Arch is only 17 feet wide (the base is 54 feet wide), so the tram cars have to be tiny, only holding five people each. Small windows at the top open up the Gateway to the West (or East, depending on your roots) and give spectacular views of the city.

Underground beneath The Arch is a museum that portrays the founding of St. Louis in 1764 as a French fur trading post. The western side of the river was selected because the east side was American - this was before the Louisiana Purchase, and the Mississippi River marked the eastern boundary of the French territory. The exhibits described trade with the Osage people and, after the Lousiana Purchase, the European spread westward and the displacement of the indigenous people. We also learned how 'buck' became slang for a dollar - the main fur provided by the Osage was deer hides, and one was worth an American dollar. They didn't mention a difference between a buck hide and a doe hide, but maybe 'doe' later became 'dough'. Pure speculation, but I propose repeating this to everyone we meet until it become established fact. After all, you read it on the internet!

Just west of The Arch is the Old Courthouse. Completed in 1828, the courthouse heard dozens of petitions for freedom by slaves, many of which were granted until the mid-1800's when the interpretation of enfranchisement laws tightened. Most famously, the Dred Scott case was heard in the Old Courthouse starting in 1846. The freedom of Scott and his wife was initially granted, but the Missouri Supreme Court overturned the decision after an appeal by their 'owner'. In 1857, the case was heard by the US Supreme Court, which, in what many regard as the worst ruling in the court's history, ruled that African descendants were not US citizens and no standing to sue for freedom. This ruling raised tensions between pro- and anti-slavery factions in the North and South and, four years later, the country was fighting a civil war. Only with the end of the war and ratification of the 14th Amendment were Africans (and others) born or naturalized in the US declared citizens.

After that heavy stuff, we needed a beer. Jack Patrick's was on the way home, so we rehydrated and collected our thoughts. We considered going to the Cardinals-Brewers game (Busch Stadium was only a few blocks away) but decided our blog readers needed us more than we needed the Cards or the Brewers.

No new license plates today.

Song for the day, influenced by our early morning history lessons. The great Bob Marley. 

Bob Marley - Redemption Song - YouTube